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Our first show!

Hello all!

This Saturday will be Darby's first ever dog show!! To compete in the AKC shows, she needs to be 6 months old... she'll be 6 months and 2 whole days!

I'm sure she'll be a little terror in the show ring! When she's alone, she's the perfect little "show dog," prancing along at my side. When there are other dogs present, ALL she wants to do is romp & play with them! I'm assuming the show stewards, judges and other exibitors probably frown on dogs running accross the ring to wrestle with the others! Either way, it should be interesting and highly entertaining!!

Rory, were you still planning on attending on Sunday?

If you think of it, any good vibes sent our way around 8am on Saturday or 11am Sunday would be greatly appreciated!!

We'll let you all know how it goes! Either way, I'm sure Darby is going to have a blast.... and that's what matters!

I'm sure you'll do fine. You might check with a local dog training center to see if they offer conformation classes; around here they run $5 or $6 for an hour. You're in the ring with other breeds and they do dry runs of what you will do in the actual shows: the table, downs and backs, etc.

You might be surprised how well she does when she actually gets in the ring. Remember, in this breed they are not supposed to stand like a porcelain statue and the judges who know Cavaliers know that. Our first very first boy was outside of the ring just before ring time at his first show spinning on the lead; we thought we were done for. But the minute he got in the ring, he was perfect! Took Best of Winners for 2 points at the age of 6 months and 1 day old.

[size=6]Darby won her class both days!![/size] [size=2]However.... she was the only one in her class! [/size]

She did fantastic, though!! I'm so very proud of her!! The only "issue" she had is that she scratched at the lead most of the time she was prancing around the ring. She's used to being walked on a Puppia harness, so she's not used to a show lead around her neck (even though we've been practicing daily). I suppose it's hard to evaluate a dog's gait if they're only walking on three legs! The judge laughed and thought it was pretty funny! Immediately after the show, I bought a couple of different styles of show leads, and she appears to be doing much better with them!

We will be attending the Bay Area CKCSC Specialty this weekend...I'll let you know how it goes! There are 15 dogs in her 6-9mo puppy bitch class, so this will be interesting!!

Well, we just returned home last night... boy, was that a long weekend!! Three days of showing just wiped both Darby and myself out!

I am so very proud of my little girl, though! She behaved so well on lead, self-stacked beautifully, stayed standing in the ring (which is extremely difficult for a puppy), and stacked on the table with no problem or reluctance as the judges handled her. I couldn't be more thrilled!! I really don't care about the ribbons!

Saturday was the specialty show with 15 other 6-9 mo puppy bitches in her class... it took FOREVER!! Darby has a rostral crossbite right now, so I wasn't expecting any placements, as a bad bite can be seen as a disqualification dependant on the judge. (Although their little jaws move back and forth until about a year of age... breeder-judges usually understand that in a young puppy) Saturday and Sunday's judge couldn't see past the bite, and didn't place her. No biggie... I didn't care! I was so very proud of her! And, these shows are INCREDIBLE socialization for her, great training, and phenomenal bonding for the two of us - as we camped out in a hotel room all weekend... just the two of us!

On Monday, we had a French woman judging. Darby was tired of showing and totally misbehaved in the ring, but the judge was able to see past the bite, and placed her SECOND!!! I'm sooooo excited!! The pup that won placed first all three days, and was truly a beautiful dog! I am thrilled with my second place ribbon - we'll just have to see what happens with her bite!

We had several people at the show tell us how beautiful she was, and that I should put braces on her. I don't know about that! I'll just keep pushing on those teeth, which, of course, she absolutely hates! However, the compliments from other big-time breeders and professional handlers meant so much. We had a blast!!